Comment on 'Degradation of Two Persistent Surfactants by UV-Enhanced Ozonation'

摘要

In a recent issue of this journal, Tehrani-Bagha et al. (J Surf Deterg 15:59-66, 2012) state that sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate, more commonly known as linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) is a "persistent surfactant" that demonstrates "low biodegradability." Tehrani-Bagha et al. further imply that LAS has "harmful effects" on the environment, causing "serious environmental pollution." This comment reviews some of the extensive literature available on LAS including five environmental assessments which concluded that LAS is of low concern and not a risk to the environment. Published studies and reviews report that LAS passes stringent laboratory tests designed to measure ready biodegradability and demonstrates rapid biodegradation in both laboratory and field studies. These studies and assessments contradict the statements made about LAS in the Tehrani-Bagha et al. paper.